In Charlotte for a few days on a delegation and we're being put up in another hotel in Uptown, but I slinked away to Le Méridien since I'm a hair away from remaking Plat50 and love the Le Méridien brand. Checked in yesterday for a one-night mattress run after finding a great rate and have some feedback:

• The hotel is connected to the Sheraton Charlotte and the two share many facilities, such as the driveway [separate lobbies, however], fitness facilities, pool and club lounge.
• Check-in at LM was fine; service was friendly but not particularly inspired. Informed that I had been upgraded to a room on the top floor - I didn't see suites online, so I wasn't expecting anything. I did ask for a room with a view of the skyline, and was told "oh yeah, you're on the highest floor so your views should be great." Upon arriving at the room, I drew the curtains back to see that my room faced... the back of the building towards southeast Charlotte. No skyline view.
• The room itself was fine - very spacious with plenty of floor space, the LM bed, armchair, desk and chair, TV armoire, closet and some ledge space. Bathroom is compact with a sink, toilet and standing shower. As previous reviewers mentioned, the toilets flush LOUDLY and very quickly. Light-sensitive sleepers will get annoyed by the daylight coming through the top of the curtains in the morning.
• The club lounge is fine - definitely on the smaller side though so I can easily see it get crowded. Came in for breakfast [7 to 10 AM] and there was a waffle machine, scrambled eggs and bacon, tater tots, oatmeal, fruit bowl, cereal, fresh juices, coffee machine and a small fridge with juices and soft drinks.
• Some niggles: (1) I asked for extra Malin + Goetz amenities when I checked in in the afternoon and stepped out for a few hours - when I came back, they weren't delivered. (2) The in-room phone handset was broken so one has to use the speaker to place calls. (3) Plats at LM can use the club lounge at the Sheraton but there was no mention of this at check-in, so I had to call this morning to find that out. (4) There is considerable wear-and-tear around the hotel or, quite possibly since this issue plagued the hotel's previous incarnation as the Blake, shoddy construction. I was at the City Lights rooftop bar last night and there were loose floor tiles, bubbling paint and peeling surfaces in many spots. Even the exterior of the hotel has surfaces that are poorly painted, have mismatched colors or are just plain bubbling.

All in, it's an OK place to stay. It's not quite on par with other LMs globally - or even LM Arlington, where I had a great stay about two weeks ago - service is patchy and the rooms/building could use a little investment to bring them up to the same level as the lobby, which is lovely... but for a no-commitment mattress run, this was alright.

khabah